appearance

brand

brand awareness

brand name

consumerism

fashion

Japan

Japanese fashion

religion

is so popular in Japan because there is no religion, so the Japanese exist in appearances.

According to Masahiro Yamada, a sociologist, materialism matters so much to the modern Japanese because their society long ago discarded most of the nation's spiritual character to make room for Western values and lifestyles, part of the nation's grab-bag strategy of foreign acquisition. To accommodate its desire for modernity, for instance, Japan even moved its New Year's celebration from the period indicated on the Chinese lunar calendar to the West's January 1. 'We don't have religion in Japan, so what exist are appearances,' Yamada explained. 'If you look good, you must be having a good life.' Owning a Vuitton clutch offers that assurance and forestalls serious self-reflection. Indeed, many brand-name shoppers seem to agree with Yamada's analysis. 'Wearing any kind of brand makes you feel more self-confident,' said Mayumi, a twenty-one-year-old dental assistant, who was sporting one of those must-have Vuitton purses, a Bulgari necklace, and a Gucci watch. 'It just makes you feel good.'4

Masahiro YamadaThinkers

Masahiro Yamada